Pedro Gonzalez spoke with AXS TV Fights (via MMAjunkie) ahead of his fight with Saul Almeida for the interim featherweight title at CES MMA 45. The highlights are below:

On Almeida: “He’s a guy to look up to. He’s been fighting for a long time. I’m actually kind of friends with him a little bit. But this is the fight game. Things like this are going to happen. You’re going to fight friends, and it’s business when you get in there. After the fight, we’ll grab a drink and…talk about the fight…There’s nothing crazy outside of the fight. But for 25 minutes or less, like I told him, we’re going to try to kill each other.”

On his assessment of Almeida’s skillset: “I guess I couldn’t really say what he’s weak and vulnerable for. He’s a grinder. He’s durable. And he’s hard to finish. I can’t really see any weaknesses. He doesn’t have much power in his punches, maybe that’s where I can say he has a little weakness. But other than that, my plan is just to keep it on the feet, I guess. And roll with the punches.”